How To Beat Those Holiday Blues

I'm currently sitting on my sofa, with a cup of tea. I've just walked home from work & I'm tired. I'm cold. I have an over-whelming feeling of being 'lost' & alone & all I want to do is get on a plane & fly back to Kefalonia.

I have the holiday blues.

I have to be honest & say I don't think I've ever had the holiday blues up until now. I've come back off of holiday on a few occasions & for the first week thought "awwh man, we would have been on that boat trip this time last week" or "remember that buggy ride where I thought I was going to die!?" but I've never actually had an overwhelming feeling of sadness & felt like something is missing like this.

It's a difficult thing to get your head around tbh. At the end of the holiday, I was actually missing home & couldn't wait to get back to my own bed & see my house plants (how sad am I) but now, all I want to do is get back on that sunbed & take a dip in the pool with Sally the flamingo. I miss waking up with the sun on my face, wearing my swimwear under my day clothes as it was guaranteed we'd go somewhere to take a dip in the sea & I miss my holiday family! I couldn't have asked to have gone away with more amazing people.

Anyway. This post is actually about ways of getting over the holiday blues so I've put together a few tips & tricks to make coming home & dealing with this feeling that little bit easier.

Prepare for landing
By this I mean, prepare for your arrival back home. There is nothing worse than being on the plane & visualising your house, in complete chaos because you didn't do those household chores before you left. When I'm packing, I make such a mess. I dig out all my clothes, try them all on & therefore leave half my wardrobe spread across the floor. Try to organise yourself by either putting the clothes away again if you decide not to take them on holiday with you, or pack a few days before, so you have time to tidy up afterwards. The washing up & emptying the fridge are massive things for me too. You don't have to use up everything, or wash every plate, but don't leave items that you know will go off when your away. Throw them away or eat them before you leave.

Take photos
Sometimes looking back at photos can make you feel more down as it brings back memories, but I actually find this helps me. When I look at a photo, I imagine myself back in the moment & try to remember how I felt. A lot of the photos from our holiday to Kefalonia were of the beach & it instantly makes me feel happy & warm inside when I remember us watching the sun slowly fading on the horizon.

Make memories
Like photos, making memories & thinking about what I've done on holiday makes me extremely happy. If I think of all the new places I saw & explored, it instantly brings a smile to my face. Travelling for me is a huge deal in itself, so when I think about how I'm able to go on a plane & be in another country without panicking, I feel so incredibly proud.

Keep up those healthy habits
While on holiday, I try to have a break from social media. Yes it's hard, but it does me the world of good. I feel less attached to my phone & I found myself wanting to leave it behind when we went out for the day & to evening meals. I usually do carry my phone with me everywhere, as I walk a lot of places on my own, but I'm definitely trying to keep it out of reach at home & during the day. I did indulge in quite a lot of food on holiday as well, but that did include alot of salads & fruit. I'm usually quite good at snacking on healthy food at home, but I'm really going to try to keep it up & eat less naughty treats!

Book another trip!
This one has to be my top tip! It honestly is the one thing that gets my mind off the holiday blues. Make sure you've got something to look forward to in your diary. Whether that is a day trip, another holiday or just a few days away, book it in before you leave, so you know when you come back, you have something to get excited for! James & I currently have a week in France coming up at the end of July & Elisa & I are heading to Devon for a couple of days in August too, so I have quite a few things to look forward to.

I hope this helps some of you beat those holiday blues. I really am going to try to take my own advise & snap out of it.. but don't judge me if you see me walking around in a bikini with a cocktail pretending I'm not in rainy England.. : ' )

Oh & keep an eye out for my holiday post which will be coming up soon! I'm currently sorting through over 600 photos & videos, but I can't seriously wait to share all our adventures with you guys!

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Little Steps To.. Relieving Stress

Hello lovelies,

This post is part 2 of my "Little Steps To.." posts. I blogged about ways to find happiness last week, so today is all about de-stressing & how I find ways to switch off at the end of the day.

1. Go outside

I find at the end of the day is when I'm most stressed. I'll come home from work & immediately think 'I've done nothing today, if I was at home I could have done all these things & now I have such a lot to do'. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know right. My job means I am stuck behind a desk for the day, I do get to see the outside world, but I'm unable to actually go out & enjoy it, so I find when I get home all I want to do is go outside. This is obviously a lot better in the summer when the sun is shinning & you can feel those rays on your skin. However, sometimes it is just nice to have a walk in the chilly, frosty air & come back to a nice warm house.

2. Animals

Ah where do I start with this one? I am so grateful every day to have animals in my life & to have been brought up around them. My family have had chickens, cows & horses since I was born. We got our first cat when I was 5 & a few years later, we got our first dog. Since then, we've had dogs ever since & even though we no longer have cows or horses, we still have chickens. All I remember when I was younger was whenever I was upset, my mum would give me a chicken. I'd sit with the chicken & stroke it while it sat on my lap & it immediately calmed me down. Now I don't understand exactly how animals do it, but they are just the most comforting, reassuring things ever. Honey gives me so much love every day & I can't thank her enough for it.

3. Read

I'm hopeless at picking up a book. The only time I really read is on holiday where I get stuck into a book & will get extremely excited & say to myself I'm going to continue this at home, but I never do. It's such a shame because there are so many books out there I want to read but just haven't gotten round to it. What I do manage to pick up & read is non-fiction books. I mentioned the book Calm in a blog post last year which I'm still obsessed with, but I'm also currently loving Hygge (I'm going to do a full post on this in a few weeks time) but I'm addicted to it, anyone else?

4. Colouring

I got some new pencils & a colouring book for Christmas & I'm loving sitting down with it in the evening. You can pick up some beautiful books from The Works at the moment (they have an amazing sale right now!) but I know most places will sell them now as they are making a comeback! 

5. Meditation

Ok, so I touched on this in my Calm post last Summer, but meditation has become such a big part of my life. I sadly don't manage to practice it as much as I'd like, but I can't believe how amazing it is. If you haven't tried, I'd highly recommend it. Calm & Headspace are my favourite apps to use.

6. Planet Earth

Ok, so you've probably got to this one & thought, what the actual **** but hear me out! As I've already mentioned, animals & being outside are two of my stress relievers, so why wouldn't a program all about animals in the natural world relax me as well? I'll give you an example. For my birthday, I'd organised a night out at the local pub for my group of friends to go for drinks on a Saturday night. So, if I'm honest, I put up the event on complete auto-pilot & it was only after I'd selected the people to invite, made the event & posted it on Facebook, my heart sank. I'd organised something on the busiest night of the week, surrounded by people drinking. My head was screaming 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE'. If you haven't already guessed, this was one of the worst scenarios for me to put myself in, which is silly because I used to do it most weekends when I was 18/19, but I'm in a completely different frame of mind now. I was ok up until 3 hours before we were due to meet everyone & I sat down with James, almost in tears, saying I couldn't go. Being the amazing man he is, he wrapped my up in his duvet & put on Planet Earth on iPlayer & we sat in silence & watched it. Half way through I realised I was ok. My chest felt lighter & I could breathe again. My head was saying 'you can do this, it's your birthday, nothing bad is going to happen'. & I listened. The program ended, I got ready & went out & I had one of the best nights out I've had in ages. So yes, Planet Earth is my saviour.

I would love to know what you do when you're stressed & how you find ways of calming yourself down. Remember to check out my "Little Steps To.. Happiness" post as part of this series if you liked this one : )

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Calm

What does the word Calm mean to you?

To me, when I'm calm, I'm relaxed. Which sadly, when I think about it, isn't that often.

I know there's a lot of people like me, who always find they are unable to switch off. I have no problems sleeping once I manage to get to sleep (luckily.. I'd be so grumpy if I did!) but I do struggle to feel relaxed in certain situations & dwell on things that "might" happen.

Since discovering this book, my life has drastically changed. When I first read about it, I didn't think it was possible for a book to help as much as it has done, but taking time out to read a few pages each night, makes me able to relax & feel a lot calmer on a daily basis.

What's great about this book is you can literally dip in & out of it whenever you feel you need too. There are different chapters to combat different areas of life, but I find myself just flicking to a page & reading whenever I need to de-stress.

There are also a few activities through out the book to complete (I'm one of those people though that won't write in it in case I ruin it!) but I have photocopied them & filled them in!

As well as the book, you can also download the free app & practice meditation. I've always been a bit sceptical of this, but after doing a few just before bed, I'm so impressed. Again, you can select what the main focus of the meditation is covering; relationships, stress, happiness etc. I can't begin to tell you how relaxed you feel even after a 10 minute session.

I even managed to get James to give mediation a try & he really enjoyed it. I would definitely advise trying it before you judge it.

"Modern life is hectic and relentless: trains delayed, endless emails filling the inbox, kids squabbling before bedtime… There has never been a more important time to rediscover your pause button. Calm is the book that will show you how to take back a little bit of peace, space and all-important calm. This book contains the simple tools, tricks and habits that will change the rest your life. It is a practical and pleasurable guide to twenty-first century mindfulness."

Have you had a chance to read Calm or downloaded the app?

I'd love to hear your thoughts : )

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March & April Favourites

Accessorize Blusher

This blush, what can I say. I've been wearing it for years but just discovered that I've never posted about it. (well I did feature it in a haul, but never reviewed it) It's the most beautiful blush I've ever used & if you see me out & about, I will be wearing this on my cheeks. It's in the shade Quiver & after searching for it on the Accessorize website, I couldn't seem to find it so I'm not sure if they even do it anymore! It has the most beautiful pink & silver shimmers running through it & looks gorgeous on the cheeks.

Topshop Highlighter

I was shopping with James a few weeks ago & we headed into Topshop because I had a voucher (& there was a sale.. so I really couldn't resist) I hardly ever head to the makeup section in store, but decided to give it a look. I came across their highlighters & found this one. Oh my God, I'm in love. I don't want to write too much about it in this post as I have a full review coming soon, but it's one of the most beautiful highlighters I own. Definitely worth the price tag.

Primark Mug

Let me just start by saying, I'm obsessed with mugs. Like, actually obsessed. I've been slowly collecting them over the past year & when I saw this one in Primark for £2, I knew I had to have it. Even though it is quite a big mug, it does hold the heat very well & of course, holds a lot of tea which is always a good thing! I'm going to stop now, reading this back sounds so boring if your not a mug lover!

Makeup Revolution Palette

I reviewed this palette at the end of February so I won't chatter on about it too much here (view the post here if you like) but it's one of the most gorgeous, pigmented palettes I own. There's a mixture of shimmer & matte shades, perfect for any occasion.

Calm 

Ah where do I start? I am going to do a full post on this book & app, but I wanted to feature it in my favourites this month because it has been just that, a favourite. I first discovered the Calm book when reading Kayleigh's blog a few weeks ago & went straight onto my Amazon account & purchased it. It came the next day & I got sucked straight into it. I'm pacing myself though, you know when you're so excited about something, especially a book, you read it so quickly then get really sad when it's over in a flash? Yes, exactly that. So I'm gradually reading a few pages a night alongside listening to the Calm app. Like I say, I'll post properly about the book & app in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

Primark Nail Polish

You might have seen me mention this nail polish in my recent nail art post, but I seriously can't rave about it enough! Let's start with the price, I know Primark are known for their bargains, but this polish only cost me 80p! & of course, being so cheap, you wouldn't expect the formula to be great, but I only applied two coats & it didn't budge for a week! Absolutely amazing. The feature I was most excited about was how it claimed to be a quick-dry nail varnish. I get so bored waiting for my polish to dry, that I always try to find brands that use quick dry in their advertising. Again, this did not disappoint. It dried within a few minutes & I was ready to get on with my day. I will just say that I recently tried another polish from Primark (not a quick dry) & it did chip within a few days, so not all of the formulas are as good as this one.

Music - This Year, Marger / Hands To Myself, Selena Gomez

Ah these songs! Totally different to what I usually listen to but I just can't get enough of them this month! Selena Gomez' album is just incredible.

Events

At the beginning of March, we pulled of a surprise birthday party for my beautiful best friend Boop. I vlogged the whole day so you can watch it here if you like! We managed to trick her into thinking we were going out for dinner, but actually appeared at a barn we'd hired, filled with friends & family. It was so lovely to see her shocked face!

James & I also went to Crufts at the beginning of March. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go & was such a lovely day. I even got to hug a pug & a Chihuahua!

At the end of March, my grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. I still can't get over how amazing that is. They are still so adorable together & we celebrated with a family meal on Easter Sunday. James was also on his Easter break from uni, so we had a few weeks together at the beginning of April.

How has your month been lovelies?

I'm so excited for May & June, there is so much happening. We have Elisa & Jamie's wedding, The Sidemen football match & of course our holiday to Corfu! Make sure your subscribed to my Twitter & Instagram to keep up to date with all our adventures! : )

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